A question about alternate Rayman games.

[Foffy]

Hey there. I figure I would offer my curiosity to a hardcore Rayman forum, as they would more than anything else help me find the answer I'm longing for here. My question is not so much about the main entries in the series, but the alternate versions. I feel I should elaborate on what I mean first. Ubisoft, the company that made Rayman, has an awful habit of releasing their games on many different platforms. There's nothing wrong with a multiplatform approach, but one thing Ubisoft often fails to do, and this goes beyond just Rayman now, is to elaborate what each version of their game offers. For example, many could assume Rayman Raving Rabbids is a party game on all platforms, but the GBA and DS versions are platformers, and even then the two versions on portables have very little connection to each other. So, what I'm asking is when it comes to multiple releases of Rayman/Rabbid titles, what releases actually are a totally different experience than the main marketed version?

So, here's where you guys come in. What other versions of Rayman/Rabbid titles offer different plots, levels, and experiences than the ones Ubisoft markets as the main version? Is the Game Boy Color version of Rayman 1 really just the console version, or a different game entirely? I'll list the ones I know of, and hopefully others can fill the rest or correct me on things.

- Rayman 3 on GBA is a different game than the console version
- Rayman Raving Rabbids on GBA is different than the console version
- Rayman Raving Rabbids on DS is a different game than both the console and GBA version
- Rabbids Travel in Time 3D is a different game than the Wii release
- Raving Rabbids 2 on DS focuses on a different plotline than its console counterpart
- According to Wikipedia, Rayman 2 on GBC is a different game than the console release

So yeah. Hopefully you guys will be able to help clear up something Ubisoft's marketers fail to do with many of their franchises. It sure isn't as bad as the case was with Splinter Cell Double Agent I assume, where Ubisoft marketed all of the games to be the HD versions, but the PS2/Wii/GC releases actually had more of the promotional materials found on their website and less of the fluff of the HD releases. It took reviewers a few weeks to learn those versions were different and better/worse in other ways.

[spiraldoor]

Rayman 1 and 2 on Game Boy Color are totally different from the regular version. Rayman 2 on PlayStation is different but not entirely so.

[stan423321]

I can't see it as a fail. It used to be pretty obvious that portable entries are different, it only changed with PSP/PS2 stuff. The only other thing I can think of is R2-on-Sony-consoles stuff, but as long as I remember PS1's differences were mentioned here and over in the PS press, and RR has another title.

To be honest rereleasing R2 under many different names is more irritating.

[spiraldoor]

I can't see it as a fail. It used to be pretty obvious that portable entries are different, it only changed with PSP/PS2 stuff.

Except for Rayman Advance, which was an ill-fated attempt to recreate the original version of the game.

[stan423321]

Ummm... but it was it's main premise, and actually the reverse of what our new friend accuses Ubisoft of.

[TheKopex]

There's also the educational versions of Rayman 1. However, they are built up from the same engine and uses all environments that already exist in the original version so does this still count

[Haruka]

I can't see it as a fail. It used to be pretty obvious that portable entries are different, it only changed with PSP/PS2 stuff.

Except for Rayman Advance, which was an ill-fated attempt to recreate the original version of the game.

Rayman Advance has got a problem: shrinked screen.

Foffy, I wonder if you know about Rayman M. It is a spin-off game in the Rayman series, but it focuses in races and battles.

[Foffy]

I can't see it as a fail. It used to be pretty obvious that portable entries are different, it only changed with PSP/PS2 stuff. The only other thing I can think of is R2-on-Sony-consoles stuff, but as long as I remember PS1's differences were mentioned here and over in the PS press, and RR has another title.

To be honest rereleasing R2 under many different names is more irritating.

The fail of it has more to do with Ubisoft only talking about one version of a game, and considering we're in an age of multiplatform releases, one could assume all of the versions are the same experience made to work on the platform they're released to. The problem I find is despite this, there are still cases where Ubisoft makes a totally unique version of a game for a platform and does not emphasize it's a totally different game. They're failing on selling a totally standalone experience and throwing it in the same bus as the version they choose to market, giving off this idea that they're the same title on different platforms. This happens the most with the Tom Clancy franchise. Many of the games in the Rayman series have been made in such an age, leading to unique titles sometimes being a mystery. Only to a degree of course, as this is the internet. ;3

Foffy, I wonder if you know about Rayman M. It is a spin-off game in the Rayman series, but it focuses in races and battles.

That I do. By alternate I mean in the case of a game having the same name as another version, but actually being a totally different game. I do know the game has different names depending on the region it was released in, though.

[MetalGearChick]

I do know the game has different names depending on the region it was released in, though.

Not just that. There are also big differences between the PS2/PC versions, and the GC/Xbox versions.

[Foffy]

I do know the game has different names depending on the region it was released in, though.

Not just that. There are also big differences between the PS2/PC versions, and the GC/Xbox versions.

Is that so? What are the biggest differences?

[Haruka]

- Different menu style
- Different cinematics
- Overall shorter race tracks but with more sense of speed
- You can freeze the opponents in races
- In battle modes, everytime you shoot to a player it counts as a point
- Unique skins
- Dark Globox
- Etc

[stan423321]

The fail of it has more to do with Ubisoft only talking about one version of a game, and considering we're in an age of multiplatform releases, one could assume all of the versions are the same experience made to work on the platform they're released to. The problem I find is despite this, there are still cases where Ubisoft makes a totally unique version of a game for a platform and does not emphasize it's a totally different game. They're failing on selling a totally standalone experience and throwing it in the same bus as the version they choose to market, giving off this idea that they're the same title on different platforms. This happens the most with the Tom Clancy franchise. Many of the games in the Rayman series have been made in such an age, leading to unique titles sometimes being a mystery. Only to a degree of course, as this is the internet. ;3

I dare to differ. Honestly if somebody expected R1 on GBC to be just a port of regular R1, then such a person will have no problem with speculating about Chell in Smash 4.

On Rayman Arena: I heard (but didn't confirm) that freezing in races is there in all Rayman Arenas, including PC ones.

[Haruka]

Yes, that's correct.